The idea of arming public school employees gained traction in a poll released Wednesday, a week before lawmakers hear testimony on a bill that would allow Colorado school districts to permit adults to carry guns inside classrooms.

Fifty percent of Coloradans support allowing teachers to be armed inside schools, while 45 percent remained in opposition, according to the Quinnipiac poll in the pollster’s first look at the issue since a gunman walked into Arapahoe High School in December and killed a classmate before taking his own life.

On Tuesday, a House committee will hear testimony on a measure sponsored by Rep. Steve Humphrey, R-Severance.

Humphrey’s bill authorizes a school board to adopt written policy that allows employees to carry concealed weapons on school grounds as long as they have a valid permit.

More than a dozen states allow adults to carry loaded weapons inside K-12 schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg said his district does not support such legislation.

“The safety and security of our students is the number one priority for Denver Public Schools,” Boasberg said. “We do not believe that arming teachers is the right solution to ensure the safety of our schools.”

Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent Cindy Stevenson said the school district has not taken a position on the bill, but she urged caution in considering such legislation.

“Having worked with law enforcement a lot and having really looked at safety and security, carrying a gun is something that requires a lot of training and it’s not just one firearm safety class,” Stevenson said. “It’s really important to know what actually creates greater safety. It’s risk assessment and threat assessment. It’s reporting everything. It’s a high level of training.”

The poll found a stark divide among gender when it came to the question of arming teachers as men support the effort by a much wider margin than women, who mostly oppose it. Also, Republicans strongly favor arming teachers at 73 percent, while just 19 percent of Democrats support it.

“There’s no question we all want to keep our kids safe,” said state Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, the chairman of the House Judiciary committee, which will hear testimony on Humphrey’s bill.

A native of Colorado, Kurtis Lee was a politics reporter for The Denver Post from February 2011 until July 2014. He graduated cum laude from Temple University in 2009 with a degree in journalism and political science. He previously worked as an online writer in Washington, D.C., for the PBS NewsHour.

President Donald Trump fired off angry tweets Sunday morning railing against the Justice Department special counsel's Russia investigation and attacking the integrity of former FBI director James B. Comey and his former deputy, Andrew McCabe, charging that their notes from conversations with him were "Fake Memos."

Jordan's rising role as a U.S.-backed pillar in the precarious Middle East, receiving newly re-upped aid of $1.275 billion a year, builds on a unique 15-year partnership with Colorado pilots that officials this week said they want to expand.

President Donald Trump's lawyer called on the Justice Department to immediately shut down the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, in the wake of the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.